FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SARA LEE - PAGE 4

National Beverage Corp. of Fort Lauderdale announced on Friday that it had agreed to purchase 1.8 million shares of Burnup & Sims common stock held by SLC Beverages, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp. The price was not disclosed, but at current stock prices, the transaction was worth about $20.7 million. SLC had acquired the stock as part of the 1985 acquisition of Shasta Beverages by National Beverage Corp. from Sara Lee. National Beverage Corp., a privately held holding company, owns Faygo Beverages, Shasta Beverages, Spree All-Natural Beverages and private-label brands.

It's always been there, scratching the back of your neck, that nagging tag. Until now. A growing number of retailers -- from Old Navy to high-end designers like Etro -- are dumping the dreaded tag, instead printing stamps or embroidered labels into the backs of shirts. Some retail analysts project that tagless merchandise will account for nearly 20 percent of all clothing within two years, a huge jump considering it was practically nonexistent a few years ago. For manufacturers, it's more expensive to lose the tag. But the seemingly innocuous change has boosted sales up to 20 percent for some companies that recently introduced tagless clothes.

Palm Beach County A former band member of the shock rock group Marilyn Manson filed a lawsuit Tuesday against tire maker Bridgestone-Firestone and Ford Motor Co. for injuries suffered when his 1999 Ford Explorer rolled over on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County. The suit alleges three tires failed on the sport utility vehicle, causing it to flip over several times and roll down an embankment in March 2000. The suit was filed on behalf of Fred Streithorst of Orange County, known as Sara Lee Lucas when he was Marilyn Manson's drummer in the early 1990s.

People who donate baseball equipment to the Broward County YMCA can get free products from TCBY Treats. The equipment can be new or used but must be in usable condition. It will be given to 150 low-income children in the YMCA's after-school program. Baseballs, mitts and bats can be delivered to four TCBY locations Friday through Jan. 24, in return for treats. The Plantation shops are in The Fountains Shopping Center, 801 S. University Drive, and at Vizcaya Square, 819 N. Nob Hill Road.

For those who like their commercials undiluted, there`s TeeVee Toons: The Commercials, the fourth volume in TVT`s ongoing exploration of pop culture older than six months. TVT`s first three, double albums, Television`s Greatest Hits, were daft and delightful collections of 190 TV theme songs spanning three decades. More than 1 million copies were sold as folks remembered just how crucial the themes to Gilligan`s Island, The Jetsons and The Beverly Hillbillies were to their lives. As much as Motown and Beatles songs, these catchy themes are great pop art, often written and performed by great, though uncredited, pop artists.

After watching annual bread sales rise double digits for more than two decades, Natural Ovens founders Paul and Barbara Stitt were confident the $10 million they invested in a new, energy-efficient bakery in Valparaiso, Ind., would harvest big returns. But just a few weeks after opening their second plant -- and first major expansion -- the unexpected happened: Bread sales crumbled. "We were starting up our second bakery about a year ago when we saw sales softening," said Stitt. "We couldn't figure out what was going on, because we have been accustomed on average to having a 15 percent sales growth in each of last 25 years."

Federal investigators suspect dust kicked up during a summer maintenance project at Sara Lee Corp.'s Bil Mar Foods plant in Michigan may have been the source of a listeriosis outbreak that has killed 15 people and sickened about 75 in 16 states. Investigators with both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are looking into whether work conducted on an air-conditioning system at the Bil Mar Foods meat-processing plant in Zeeland was responsible for spreading the bacteria listeria monocytogenese into hot dogs and other packaged meat products.

They used to be an ethnic favorite, but these days bagels seem to appeal to everyone. They are not just popping up in bagel shops (one of the hottest franchises around), but are sold frozen, fresh and refrigerated in the supermarket, as well as in stores' on-site bakeries. Until relatively recently, bagels were offered in only a few flavors: plain, salted, poppy seed, sesame seed, onion and garlic. When cinnamon-raisin bagels appeared about 20 years ago, many found them sacrilegious. But a lot has changed with the mainstreaming of the bagel.

Workouts give Arlene Clarke a personal high. Besides aerobics, the 41-year-old plays basketball, tennis and soccer. While growing up in Jamaica, she competed in netball, a British game similar to basketball. She also did 14-mile power walks for the March of Dimes. "It started out as fun. Back then I did it because I liked walking and the cause appealed to me," she said. "But the older I got, I realized how important the cause was." That cause is saving babies. The March of Dimes focuses its efforts on preventing and treating birth defects and reducing infant mortality through research, education and advocacy.